Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Shares Bought by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 815,737 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,315 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $74,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $421,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,398,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,040,000 after acquiring an additional 130,770 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $882,000. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $417,000. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $399,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 2.7 %

CL opened at $92.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a market cap of $74.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.81.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.